Women Donors Helped Fuel Obama Campaign

Supporters look on as President Obama speaks about the choice facing women in the upcoming election at an October 2012 campaign event.

Carolyn KasterAP

President Obama was more dependent on female campaign contributors in 2012 than any presidential candidate in recent history.

According to a new report from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, female donors accounted for more than 44 percent of Obama's campaign contributions, the most for any White House hopeful since at least 1988.

The GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, received just 28 percent of his campaign cash from women.

Despite the increased role of women in financing Obama's re-election effort, men still provided the lion's share of federal campaign donations across the board in 2012. CRP found that less than 30 percent of all political contributions made during the 2012 election cycle came from women. And of the top 100 donors in that election cycle, just 11 were females.

At the congressional level, CRP reported that Democratic candidates are becoming increasingly reliant on female contributors.

Female Democrats receive the highest proportion of their money from women, and Republican men receive the lowest.

Three Senate Democrats — Barbara Boxer of California, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire — topped the list for highest percentage of campaign donations from women. Between 2007 and 2012, each received 45 percent of their cash from women.

Over the same period, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., collected about 12 percent of his donations from women — less than any sitting senator.

In the House, four female Democratic House members brought in at least half of their contributions from women in the 2012 election cycle. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., ranked first with 65 percent.

Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., ranked dead last among House members in the 2012 cycle: Just 9.5 percent of his cash haul came from women.